Xia Xiang summoned the Imperial Guards to move the group back and send them to the Ancient Tomb Hospital to recuperate, while she and Jiu Lai went to deal with the aftermath of the battle.

Jiu Wu didn't see Xia Xiang once during his hospitalization. He even heard that Xia Tian and Xia Yu had received soup from Xia Xiang, but he didn't even see a shadow of Xia Xiang.

"Xiu, why hasn't she come to see me yet?"

Jiu Wu turned to Xiu, who was staring blankly at the two amber rings, and asked...

"Ah? I don't know." Xiu replied, coming back to his senses. "There are probably a lot of things to do. Right now, only the commander and Jiu Lai can manage things. They must be very busy."

"Is that a ring on your hand?" Jiu Wu asked curiously, seeing Xiu staring in disbelief.

"I think so, but I don't remember," Xiu muttered, frowning. "But my intuition tells me that these two rings are very important to me."

As the two were chatting, the door to the ward was pushed open, and Xia Xiang, dressed in a professional suit appropriate for her age, appeared serious and formal.

"Xiangxiang, you've finally come to see me! I missed you so much!" Jiuwu said happily, immediately jumping off the bed to give Xia Xiang a hug.

Xia Xiang took a step back, secretly took a breath, looked at Jiu Wu, and said in a businesslike manner, "Alliance Leader, please accept my condolences."

"What?" Just as Jiu Wu was wondering why Xia Xiang was being so distant with him, he heard Xia Xiang tell him to take care of himself. Take care of what?

"The old alliance leader passed away this morning," Xia Xiang said, her voice still trembling slightly.

"What!?" Jiu Wu's mind went blank, his ears were ringing badly, and he asked again.

Xia Xiang felt a pang of pity and longed to hug him, but she held back. "The old leader passed away this morning. He died of natural causes. The servants said he left with a smile on his face."

Jiu Wu didn't hear what Xia Xiang said after that. He teleported downstairs and made the car that brought Xia Xiang speed back to Jiu Da Chang Lao's house.

"Xiu, get some rest. You'll be very busy starting tomorrow." Xia Xiang paused for two seconds, then gave a faint smile and said, "I have something to do, so I'll be going now."

Recently, Xia Yu, Lanling Wang, and Bing Xin were all injured and hospitalized. She was also handling the affairs of the Yehenara family. In addition, she needed to send people to take over and suppress the forces left behind by some villains that the Flame Envoy had wiped out. She was extremely busy.

——

"Leader, it's raining." Xia Xiang held up a black umbrella to shield Jiu Wu, who was standing in front of the tombstone, from the rain and whispered to him.

Jiu Wu turned to look at her, his vulnerability evident in his eyes, making Xia Xiang unable to refuse his embrace.

Xia Xiang could only gently pat his back to comfort him.

"You can't leave me, you can never leave me." Jiu Wu held her tightly and wouldn't let go.

"I..." Xia Xiang didn't know how to answer, but the burning sensation on her left wrist was already reminding her not to say anything she shouldn't.

"Your subordinates will always be loyal to the Alliance Leader and perform their duties faithfully. We have always respected the Alliance Leader as an elder brother."

Jiu Wu was completely stunned, looking somewhat hurt, and didn't quite understand what she meant.

The burning pain in her wrist intensified, so Xia Xiang shoved the umbrella into Jiu Wu's hand and teleported away.

When Xia Xiang stopped in a deserted corner, she pulled up her sleeve to check. On her fair wrist were red lines like flames, forming a thin circle, like a bracelet tattoo on her wrist.

It was glowing red at this moment, and the burned area had visibly recovered, as if the pain just now was an illusion.

"That scoundrel! He swore an oath, fine, but why is he casting a whole bunch of spells at me? He doesn't even believe someone as trustworthy as me!"

With red eyes, Xia Xiang kept rubbing the red mark around her face, turning her fair skin bright red. But after a few moments, it returned to normal, and she could only mutter a frustrated curse.

"This is simply judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty person!"

——

The next time I saw Jiuwu was after the old leader's funeral. Jiuwu had been lying alone on the roof for two days.

Xia Xiang stayed secretly by her side, not daring to go forward again.

"Xiangxiang, what exactly are you guys playing?" Jiu Lai couldn't stand it anymore and said directly.

"If you're worried about him, just pull him down, hug him and comfort him. That's better than you standing here as punishment."

"You're very smart, but don't be so smart next time," Xia Xiang replied indifferently, picking up another document from the table beside her.

"You haven't finished what you're doing yet, have you? Hurry up and go."

The dark clouds on the horizon grew heavier, and a storm was brewing.

"Alliance Leader, please take care of yourself," Xia Xiang said as she approached.

"Xiangxiang, thank you," Jiuwu removed his arm from his eyes, turned to look at Xia Xiang and said, "Thank you for tolerating my willfulness. Tomorrow morning, everything will be back to normal, right?"

"Yes, then I won't bother you any longer." Xia Xiang didn't dare to look him in the eye, lowered her head to answer, and then turned and left.

Jiu Wu stared at Xia Xiang's back, lost in thought, muttering to himself, but ultimately saying nothing.

For the next month, Xia Xiang deliberately avoided Jiu Wu, living a simple life between her home, school, and office. Sometimes she also had to go on missions with Dong Cheng Wei. Jiu Wu was also very busy, and the two of them hardly ever saw each other.

Jiu Wu tried everything but couldn't get a word in with Xia Xiang, so on his own birthday, he went straight to the Xia family.

It's the weekend, and he's come so early; we absolutely can't let Xia Xiang escape again.

Xia Xiang had no other choice but to bring her family along to celebrate Jiu Wu's birthday, thus avoiding any time alone with him.

As the Xia family celebrated with Jiu Wu, Xia Xiang had already finished washing up and was in bed when he climbed in through the window.

Xia Xiang was taken aback and before she could react, Jiu Wu hugged her tightly through the blanket, his warm breath right next to her ear—